Cardiac damage related to shotgun injury: Case report

Habib Cakir, Hasan Uncu, Cagatay Tuncel, Ahmet Cakallioglu, Ozsoyler Ibrahim

Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Adana Numune Education and Training Hospital, Adana, Turkey.

DOI: 10.4236/wjcd.2012.23024                

Abstract

In this report, we present the case of a patient who presented with a pellet in his myocardium and was managed with cardiac tamponade due to shotgun injury. A 49-year-old man presented to the emergency department due to a close-range shotgun pellet injury. The patient was operatedemergently because arterial pressure was progressively decreasing and cardiac tamponade was detected echocardiographically. Three pellet entrance hole were detected on left ventricule posterior wall in surgical exploration after the cardiac tamponade relieved. No further intervention was considered because bleeding discontinued. We conclude that in shotgun pellet cardiac injuries, if the pellets are located in the myocardium, the operational decision and surgical procedure to be undertaken depends on the clinical situation of the patient and the echocardiographic signs.

Keywords

Shotgun; Heart ?njuries; Cardiactamponade

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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